


Say It Again

by blkladyelle



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Doctor AU, F/M, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Sorry, Soulmates, haruka nanase is adorable
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:41:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28412580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blkladyelle/pseuds/blkladyelle
Summary: Soulmate AUStuck with the same endearing phrase on his body, "Hello Dr. Haru", he knew it would be a never ending search for his soulmate and has given up on finding who they may be. Until an accident patient comes through for his last section of his residency, will his mind finally change?
Relationships: Nanase Haruka & Reader, Nanase Haruka/Reader
Comments: 3
Kudos: 14





	Say It Again

Soulmate AU in which the first words your soulmate speaks to you are tattooed on your body

"Hello Dr. Haru"

From a young age, Haru knew he was destined for greatness when one morning he woke up and looked upon his forearm and saw those words. Even though swimming was his life, he had another goal that was just as important and hopefully just as freeing. Haru's nonchalantness with his swimming followed him into the medical field as well. Haru flew through undergrad and was ranked one of the top in his class.

At his first graduation, one of his esteemed professors met up with him and his family.

"Haru, I must congratulate you on your accomplishments! Where are you planning on doing medical school and your residency? I would be more than happy to give you recommendations and some options. You have a bright future ahead of you as a sports doctor."

The young man gives a small smile of appreciation to his professor and shakes her hand, "Thank you Dr. Fujimoto. I certainly hope I can fulfill my wishes. If I can't be an Olympic swimmer, maybe I can help them out."

"Oh Haru," his mother interjects, "that's not the only thing! Show her your forearm!"

Dr. Fujimoto gives Haru a confused look as her eyebrows furrow. "I don't understand?"

Deep blue eyes roll at his mother's antics and rolls up his shirt to show his doting professor his tattoo. Her eyes widen in surprise and a sincere grin adorns her face, making her eyes crinkle at the edges. "Oh Haru, that is beautiful," she trails off as more thoughts enter her mind, "but I hope you're ready to endure the amount of pain that will come with it."

A slight hitch in his breath catches Haru by surprise. He had never considered that. He knew exactly what his professor was insinuating. And the thought of having many different patients in 10 years time started to shatter him little by little. How many times will he have to hear "Hello Dr. Haru" before it's the one that will make his heart flutter? 

"Thank you Dr. Fujimoto, I will take your kind words into consideration. And I will be using you for some recommendations."

~~~~~~~~

"Hello Dr. Haru!"

The grown man doesn't even look up from his desk to curtly reply to his guest, "I'm not a doctor yet Makoto. I've still got-"

"'Under a year left of your residency' I know. And wouldn't it be Dr. Nanase?"

Haru scoots away from his shared desk and places his papers back into a manila envelope before responding to his best friend's question. "I don't like being called by my last name."

The green eyed man shakes his head at his friend's antics. A chuckle escapes his lips as he watches the studious man arrange for their outing. At least once a month, the two life long friends get lunch or dinner, depending on Haru's schedule, and chat up about life. Makoto looks around the room he is in. It's a small quaint office space that is shared by different residency and fellowship students just like his companion. The amount of hard work and dedication that he has done to get to his position is something that the light brown haired fellow doesn't take lightly. It took him a very long time to be a full-time firefighter in Tokyo and he as never been happier. He hopes Haru will find his true happiness.

As the cerulean eyed man dons his jacket and prepares to leave, he mumbles out "Let's just hope I don't get called to come in during lunch. I've been craving mackerel all day."

Once the door behind him is closed, the duo makes their way down the hall, making note of all the white coats and the laughter that comes from them. Though the hospital may be a place of dread and unfamiliarity, Haru has found his home here. He is one step closer to working in sports medicine and he couldn't be happier.

Well, albeit that's distracting him for what lays on his right forearm.

At first becoming a doctor was all he wanted to do to find his soulmate, but now he's truly invested in this community. He's seen lives come and go in this place and he realized just how precious his and everyone else's lives are. He's heard a plethora of stories of love and loss and quite frankly, he wants to be free of anything holding him down. The want to save someone else and watch them become better, that's all he could ask for. He hopes that the more people he helps out, the pain of knowing that his tattoo might be a cruel joke somewhat dwindles. 

Anyone could say these words. It could come when he's on his deathbed for all he knows. So in part, he's partially given up on finding his other half. Because if swimming was able to fill a void in him before, saving lives could do the same. But damn does it still hurt knowing that me might be alone forever.

But he's Haru Nanase and he'll just have to suck it up and deal with it. 

Noticing the features on his friend's face darken, Makoto nudges him in his side. "You're thinking about it again."

Said man looks up and shrugs his shoulders as they are met with the cool air of the outside. It's almost as if the air brings him back to reality and the ideas of this world. Looking around at everyday people hustling and bustling to and fro makes his arm throb. They could all be going to their lovers and loved ones. Living their lives without a care, having meaningful words on some part of their body while his is a jeer at his profession.

"Yeah, that new ramen place is down this way."

"You're going to find whoever they are someday, I promise you. I know I already found mine which doesn't help but you have to trust me."

Haru just rolls his eyes softly and trudges on, knowing that whenever he starts thinking about that his best friend always has the same response.

Their lunch went by smoothly, Makoto asking his typical questions about his residency and whether he's excited to do physical medicine. He knew his blue eyed friend had his options in deciding what kind of residency he wanted to do, but had a strong feeling that physical medicine was his true calling in order to becoming solely focused on sports medicine. All the leftover food that wasn't eaten was taken by the doctor in training to have food while at work. While they were paying for their check, Haru's pager went off signaling for him to come back a little sooner. The male gave his friend a look of understanding as he quickly gathered his things. "It's fine," Makoto smiled, "I figured you would be called in eventually for something. You're so close to being Dr. Haru!"

A very minuscule grin casts itself on his pale face as he rushes out of the ramen eatery and heads back to the hospital. Once back inside his new world, he sees his supervisor ready with some of his materials. "I need you to help me out with this one and eventually take over."

Motioning for the file in his hand, he looks up "So what seems to be the issue?"

"A major car wreck. You're working with someone who suffered multiple broken bones and torn ligaments. I've seen you work your magic and I think you can handle this on your own. She just recently got out of surgery, but hasn't fully woken up yet or responded to anything from or by anyone. Since you're almost done here, I figure you can rehabilitate this one and maybe one other and you're out of here. What do you say?"

After skimming through the file he looks up and nods curtly to his superior who gives him a kind smile. He pats him on the back and motions for them to hurry down the hall to their awaited room. The older gentlemen knocks on the door and they let themselves in.

"Good afternoon ladies, I'm Doctor Sato, and assisting me will be doctor in training Haru Nanase." Dr. Sato then walks closer to the two ladies in the room. One in a chair and the other laying in the cot, probably asleep or ignoring the two men in the room. Haru looks upon the one in the cot and his heart lurches. From one glance, he can tell that her (s/c) skin is usually quite vibrant and lively, not dull of life and covered in casts and bandages. His eyes travel to the IV in her arm and takes note of her blood type. Realizing he won't be getting a response from the actual patient, Dr. Sato turns his attention towards the mother. "We will be working with your daughter through her physical rehabilitation."

The older woman nods solemnly and parts her lips to speak. "How," she starts, "how long will she be here? I know both of her legs are broken and some ribs need healing but..." A small trail of tears form in her (e/c) irises as she stares at her unresponsive but still breathing daughter. A firm hand is places on her shoulder to try and console her.

"Mrs. (L/n), we will do everything we can to get her in and out in under six months. She'll have to learn to walk again with having two severely broken legs and all.

"However she won't have to stay in the hospital. She can be discharged in about a month or two and will have to come back for check ups. It'll be a little more complicated with having her ribs damaged. But I have full faith that she will be fine." He ends his explanation with a hearty smile. 

The young woman's mother smiles at him and thanks him. She turns her attention to Haru, "Young man, I trust you to take care of my (F/n) okay?"

Seeing the resemblance between mother and daughter, Haru grins softly.

"You have my word." He looks up to the sleeping woman and notes, "She's in good hands."

Mrs. (L/n) gasps as he turns around to leave when she noticed (F/n)'s left foot twitch.

~~~~~~~~~

Where the hell am I? Why don't I remember anything?

(F/n) wakes up in an unfamiliar room and everything hurts. She viciously tosses her head side to side to take in her surroundings. Wires, monitors... Am I in the hospital? My legs! 

She tries to breathe and realizes it's incredibly painful, almost as if little knives are poking at her insides.

Shit! Ah, what's going on? Why can't I move my lower body? What the hell is going on?

A bright light suddenly floods the room as a surge of nurses come in to try and calm her down. Gloved hands hold her arms as they reinsert the IV tubes into her body and give her a shot. A pinprick feeling strikes her under her forearm and suddenly feels herself slowly calm down. The sweat of her brow continues to fall but at slower rate. Her heartbeat comes down as well as the nurses' grip on her arms loosens. Her frantic eyes search all around her for anything familiar but fails to find anything to calm her nerves.

A knocking noise breaks her from her rushing thoughts as an older man approaches her with a soft smile. "Hello Ms. (F/n), glad to see you're awake. Your other physician is a little busy at the moment but you will meet him soon. I hope your memory returns to you.

"Now tell me," Dr. Sato continues, "do you know where you are?"

The young woman slowly nods her head as whatever she was injected with starts to take effect.

"Good. I've also read from your file that you have some sort of throat condition?" Dr. Sato patiently waits for his patient to respond with a nod or some other acknowledgement of understanding from her. "Don't worry, the young man helping with your recovery is pretty quiet too so I think you two will get along just fine. And maybe, we'll get to hear that beautiful voice of yours. But no pressure."

(F/n) meets the elders eyes and nods again. She mouths a 'thank you' and takes a deep breath to lie back down slowly onto the cot. Her face contorts as the pain from her ribs strikes her and she hisses at the feeling. Doctor Sato rushes over to cradle her and settle her down onto the cot. "Don't rush it, we don't want any of the healing to backtrack itself. Just take it easy. It'll be alright."

Careful tears trail down her cheeks at not only the pain, but her circumstances, her lack of voice and having a true understanding of where she is and why she's there.

Doctor Sato and the other nurses slowly exit and let the young (h/c) haired woman cry and lull herself to sleep.

The next morning she meets him and she wishes she could shout.

His tender touches as he examines her ribs from the outside leave her feeling light-headed and dizzy, a sensation she has never felt before. Without her being able to touch them, the (e/c) eyed woman's eyes go wide as blood rises to her cheeks causing her skin to redden slightly. This doctors attention to detail and perfection makes her feel like a fine China doll being carefully handled. Never has someone given her body that much care in a long time. With her mind being caught up in the moment, (F/n) failed to see his fingers touch a sensitive area that made her hiss and her body shake.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Is that a tender spot?"

His voice sounded like velvet and felt like a smooth wave of water running over her that all she could muster was a large nod of her head. Haru gave a welcoming grin and proceeded with his examination. After he inspected her upper body, there was a knock at the door and he spun around to see the nurse put a file on a nearby counter. He made a mental note to himself to remember that. He then gently lays her back down into a comfortable sitting position and right then, she is able to take in his appearance.

His blue eyes remind her of the calmness of the ocean and the way the look over her and everything he does is meticulous. The way his dark hair fits neatly and precise upon his head, even the little hairs that stick out and lightly touch his unbroken skin. The more she studies him, the more she starts to see something hidden behind his every defined movement.

There's a sense of hurt that she can't shake. 

His tone, his actions, all so precise and filled with care. But why does she get the gut feeling that something is off about that? No one works that hard without a true reason. 

She curses the sickness plaguing her lungs and throat or else she would coax it out of him. And tell him before he leaves that he forgot the file on the counter.

~~~~~~~~

"Good morning, (F/n)"

By now he was used to the silence whenever he would come in to check up on (F/n). If it was anything this field has taught him, is to be more open and slightly more talkative to and with others. For some reason, he finds a certain calmness with this one though. He's noticed she doesn't talk much, so finding out about her crash or anything about her that wasn't on file was going to be hard. All he could do was assume things based on the file given. Her name is (L/n) (F/n). She is 27 years old. From her mom, he knows that she just graduated from a doctorate program and was on her way home from some place when someone sped through a red light and crashed into her. She had no time to react and had the most damage done to her person and the car. 

And her mom never ceases to mention how she hasn't found her soulmate yet.

When they are in the same room together, she would roll her eyes and gesture for her mother to stop talking. Haru would chuckle a little bit at their relationship as it reminds of some old friends of his. He would give her the different painkillers needed for her treatment and then he wold examine her legs again to make sure that they were healing appropriately. When her mother had to go, Haru would escort her out but this time he had decided to ask her a question.

"Mrs. (L/n), it's been a few weeks now and I was wondering, why doesn't (F/n) talk much?"

Concern glazed over her eyes at his inquiry and her shoulders drooped. She lets out a shaky breath, "It's not really my story to tell but she wasn't always like this. She had such a beautiful voice that would make angels sing. It was truly something to behold! But," the older woman breaks eye contact, "her father, and for a time myself, were avid smokers. We always smoked around her and never thought of the repercussions. She has chronic laryngitis where she'll have weeks or months of a hoarse throat and can't speak. She was actually on her way to get some medication for that when her accident happened. I thought you would've known that already? They had given you information about it?"

Haru blinks a little faster as he tries to remember a missing file and realizes his silly mistake. He will get reprimanded for that for sure that he left out a very important detail with his patient. He sighs at his mishap and slows his thoughts, "Thank you for telling me. I'm usually not this sloppy with my work. From what I know, some of the painkillers she's on for her other injuries can help with that but only time will tell."

Mrs/ (L/n) smiles at the young man's words and promptly hugs him. Haru, unsure of what to do at the time, hugs her back and a strange feeling overcomes him. Like this is a place he can return to. "You are going to be a fine doctor. I know it."

Haru returns to (F/n)'s room and sits by her bed goes through a triple check of her vitals. Everything seems fine but as he realized earlier he has been sloppy. A forgotten file? That's a first. And within the first week of taking care of her he almost forgot a pill she needed to take. What made him forget something so simple that only an amateur would do. After going through his checklist, he sees a new task for the day. 

"(F/n)," he starts and when he gets her attention he feels that same feeling he felt when he hugged her mother. Her eyebrows rise as if to note that she responded. "You're going to be getting an x-ray done today. For comparisons from when you first came in to now. I'm going to prep you for that now, okay?"

She nods and blushes a little bit, not sure if he truly understood what he said.

Seeing her blush, his cheeks do the same as he slightly stutters over his words. "Uh, just getting some of your casts off, not the, you know.. clothes..." His voice got smaller and quieter as he muddled through the last part of his statement. And that's when he hears it.

He hears her chuckle. It's strained and sounds raspy, but it's there.

Something sparked in him to keep talking. "I'm trying to go into sports medicine."

(E/c) irises shine at his proclamation and she nods eagerly for him to continue. "It's been a dream of mine since I was little. It's kind of stupid..." he trails off as he slowly removes the casts on her legs. "But it's also because of my soulmate tattoo. It says 'Hello Dr. Haru'. Silly isn't it?"

(F/n) vigorously shakes her head back and forth. If she could speak without it sending her into awful pain, she would say it's admirable and amazing that he is willing to do all this work to find his true love. When Haru looks up from placing the plaster on the ground and meets her eyes. His words are affirmed in her longing gaze at him, telling him that what he's doing isn't silly at all. His fingers still linger on her legs as if it's the most natural thing in the world. The moment between them feels like it's being stretched forever. His heart is beating like crazy the longer he stares into the pools that are her eyes. "The only downside is having to suffer through how many of those I'll hear before I find the one. But if it means I can help save lives then it is worth it."

(F/n)'s lips are parted as his words sink into her mind. That's incredibly painful she thinks before she puts her hand over his gloved one. He looks up to her once again and she squeezes his hand. 

You'll find them I promise

Right at that moment, Doctor Sato walks in with a wheelchair and the pair quickly separates from each other, the two of them not realizing how close they had gotten to each other. His deep voice breaks the spell that was enclosed in the small room. "Are you ready to see your progress?"

She meekly nods and awaits to be lifted into the mobile chair. Doctor Sato grips the handlebars and focuses his attention toward Haru. "Haru, you can have a small break. I can handle this portion, you need to do some studying and homework."

Haru hums in accordance and exits the room. His heart is still beating erratically. Once he reaches his destination, he finds his phone and makes his way out of the hospital. He quickly dials the person he knows will truly understand his predicament.

They pick up after two rings, "Haru? Is everything okay?"

Haru breathes deeply before beginning. "No. I think I'm falling for my patient."

"That's good! She could be the one-"

"Makoto, she has chronic laryngitis. She can go weeks or months without talking. It can't be her."

The silence on the other end is deafening as all that can be heard is the crackling the wind provides through the phones. "What are you going to do? But think about this, she won't always be voiceless. She could still say it."

"It's pointless. At this point, I just want to finish my degree and forget about her."

"Haru," he sighs, "You've called me at least once a week since meeting her to talk about her. I mean, have you seen her soulmate tattoo?"

"No, but I don't want to get my hopes up. I figured you could help me with this."

"Haru wait!" but Makoto was cut off before he could complete his thoughts on the matter. The blue eyed man puts his phone away and walks to a nearby cafe to calm his racing heart and mind. He knew better than to go falling for a patient, especially one that might not even be his soulmate. Eight more months he thinks, before his search and destroy can actually begin. Eight more months until he dreams become a reality and his fantasy of finding the one becomes an endless nightmare of constantly hearing that statement over and over.

He's honestly debated getting it removed to save himself the pain and suffering, but that would mean his supposed soulmate would be lonely too. And something inside him can't get him to not do that to someone he's never met. 

~~~~~~~~

After the second x-rays came through, the lively young woman only had a couple more weeks left in the hospital. And that meant only a couple more weeks with her super friendly and equally attractive doctor. She's happy that her healing process is going smoother and faster than she hoped, but she very much got adjusted to seeing ocean hues every day and the light feather like touch his fingers leave on her body. When she is allowed to leave the hospital, what is she supposed to do? Physical therapists are hard to find and the rehab center is farther away from her home. This hospital is closer and no one, so far, understands her physical needs and impairments like Haru and Doctor Sato do. They've offered different places for her to go after she is released from their care. 

And maybe there might be another completely unrelated reason as to why she's hesitant to leave. 

But, there's no way he could be her soulmate. Absolutely no way. As much as she falls for him deeper day by day, he never said the words tattooed on her neck right by her hairline.

She's in good hands

To her, that could mean anything. She could be in another doctors office, she could be dropping off her dog to the vet or daycare, anything! It's so vague, yet has such a strong hold on her. She wants to scream and shout out loud but with her ribs still healing and her voice still impaired, what could she do? She could write him a note? But why bother? He's not her soulmate and she is not his and they will be in and out of their lives in a flash. It won't matter. 

The sound of her door opening breaks her from her thoughts as the man that has been infecting her mind walks through the door with a warm smile on his face. (F/n) tilts her head to the side and furrows her brows in confusion. 

His soft voice penetrates her ears as he announces, "We're going to practice walking today."

The gasp that escaped her lips surprised the two of them as an ecstatic grin covers her face. Haru was able to feel the joy that was emanating from her being and felt a magnetic pull to her. Just as he was about to get up, he felt a soft hand tug on his sleeve and bring him down into a gentle hug. 

Thank you!

"You're welcome," he responds to her, knowing full well what the hug meant. After spending a little more than a month together, they have gotten used to each others mannerisms. He loved and hated it all at the same time. He knew this strong woman couldn't have been his but he was becoming entranced by everything she is and does. With little words spoken to each other, he has fallen for this precious angel in his eyes. 

Once released from the hug, Haru saunters to the other side of the room to get her wheelchair. Usually, he would ask his supervisor to help him but today he felt stronger to lift (F/n) into her respective chair. (F/n) slowly swung her legs to the edge of the bed to make it easier for her transport. Haru swiftly tucks one arm under her legs and the other is carefully placed at her back to stabilize her upper body as he lifted up. Her (s/n) toned arms naturally fell around his neck and her hand fell to rest on his chest. He was toned, something she surely thought about but didn't want to assume. His breath smells like fresh mint and his hair like fresh spring water, two smells that were intoxicating to her senses.

"I used to swim a lot," he states, almost as if he could read her mind.

When she was placed in the wheelchair, the contact between them broken and their trance broken, Haru rolled her to one of the rehabilitation units that helps with body mobility. Once her x-rays have been showing massive improvement, they felt ready to put her on some exercise schedule. Steadily, (F/n) is regaining her upper body strength enough to help her start walking again. For her, this was probably the hardest part of healing so far. Once in the unit, they were greeted by some of the trainers to warm up her upper body.

About 20-30 minutes after that was complete, they moved over to a set of parallel bars that were at hip height. "We know that you still have cast on your right leg and a boot on the left, we figured you can try putting some weight onto your legs. It'll be hard, but with your right having more damage than the left and the left healing a lot better and faster we feel it will be a smoother transition to using crutches. Is that alright?"

(F/n) smiles and nods eagerly, looking to Haru for approval as he simply nods back. She reaches out for his hand to help steady herself upright and holds on tight. Once she has her hands on the bars and is upright, Haru moves to the side incase she needs assistance.

"Okay," the trainer breathes, "try to move your left foot forward and your right hand forward at the same time." Her (e/c) orbs shine with determination as she proceeds to do as she's told. The pressure is very real as she can tell that her legs have lost a lot of strength. Her arms almost give out but her willingness kept her straight up and moving forward. One stumbling step at a time and in a little while she made it across the bars for the first time. A trainer was at the other end able to catch her and place her back in her wheelchair. Tears of happiness flood down her face as Haru comes to her side. She detects a small tear at the corner of his eye and is again reminded of why he does what he does. 

It's for special moments like this. 

~~~~~~~~

A few weeks later (F/n) is released from the hospital and given a good place for physical therapy and rehab. They never got to say goodbye.

~~~~~~~~

For the first time in a long time, Haru truly cries about his tattoo and contemplates dropping out two days after she is released.

~~~~~~~~

Haru never intended on moving back to Iwatobi after fully completing his degree, but a wonderful job opened up that needed a sports medicine doctor. With the increase in sports activities, especially swimming, in his hometown there was a need for a specialist. And luckily someone there recommended him. He is now a part of a special division of a local university's sports and medicine team, handling things from the professional to the beginner level of athletes. He's happy, he's satisfied. He's okay. He's getting to do everything he ever wanted to do, regardless of the damage that is being done to him internally.

It's okay, it's really all okay.

That mantra has been on repeat for the past 14 months. 

It's a late Friday afternoon and he has just finished his last consulting of the day. As he was about to pack up, he notices a shadow in the doorway and automatically responds to it. "Sorry I'm locking up for the day. We can schedule an appointment though-"

"Hello Dr. Haru."

Haru freezes. He's never heard that voice before, but he has heard something similar. A giggle from so long ago, to him anyways, that sends his blood rushing and his heart beating faster. He turns his head so fast it could have snapped. 

But that's when he sees her. And she spoke to him. And that warm fuzzy feeling that had left him wanting and aching for more returned to him.

However, it can't be true. He can't rush to those types of conclusions. He still hasn't seen her tattoo. As if understanding his unheard thoughts, the woman in the door turns around and moves her hair out of the way to reveal her tattoo.

"She's in good hands. I don't understand-"

"My mother told me that you first came into my hospital room, that's what you said to me and my body twitched."

Haru doesn't hesitate to drop everything in his hands as he races over to (F/n)'s position and pulls her hips into his places her lips over hers, capturing her in a mind blowing kiss. Their lips mesh like the crashing of waves upon a beach shore, needy and full of passion. When they pull apart, he puts his forehead on hers as he catches his breath.

"Say it again."

Her lips form a smile as she bites on her lower one. "Hello Dr. Haru."

"Say it again."

"Hello Dr. Ha-"

He kisses her again and runs his hands up her sides to reach her face which fits perfectly in his palms. "I had been looking for you everywhere. I've longed to run to your arms and say your name over and over. When my voice healed, you were the first person I thought of. I don't know how long this time I'll have a strong voice, but damn it to hell it feels good to say your name."

Haru continues to pepper her face with light kisses as his hands deftly graze her body, happiness filling his heart.

"Say it again."


End file.
